


In a World of Darkness, I Found the Light

by AllysonDark



Category: The Walking Dead (Comics), The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, F/M, I have so many terrible things planned for this story, I'm so sorry, M/M, Multi, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-16
Updated: 2018-05-08
Packaged: 2018-08-31 09:17:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8572795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllysonDark/pseuds/AllysonDark
Summary: When you are born there is a tattoo somewhere on your body with the phrase your soulmate will think of when they first meet you. Only after time and a little trust will you be able to find out who yours really is.





	1. Chapter 1

Soulmates were an odd thing to think about in life—having the first thing this random person thought about you, scrawled across your skin. It was confusing, and if you didn’t notice the tattoo, or didn’t find them in time, you would be left alone. So the idea of soulmates in the apocalypse just seemed comical. It left many people wondering if they would ever find theirs, though the ones who lost them knew almost instantly. When a soulmate died, the tattoo would reflect the change, burning as the words shifted, showing their last thoughts. 

Many people that Tara had come across had faded grey lines along their skin, different versions of  _ I’m sorry. Please help me. I don’t want to die. Mommy loves you.  _ A haunting reminder of another life lost, a missing piece, letters that form pale scars.

Tara, however was one of the lucky few, or to some people, unlucky. The tattoo on the inside of her wrist still held the crisp black ink as if she had chosen to have it done the week before.  _ Holy shit, I am so gay.  _ The words etched onto her skin serving both as a cocky hope that she’ll manage to ‘turn’ a straight girl and that she may just have a life in this ending world after all. 

She rubs at the letters as she moves through the woods, following her people toward the prison, and she wonders if this has all been worth it. Perhaps if the Governor would have just listened to Lilly, maybe they could be avoiding possible war. 

She feels a sting of pain in her chest as she thinks of what might happen to her sister and her niece, hoping beyond hope that if this came down to a battle it would be their last, that this would mean a new life. 

As they reach the gates of the prison, her mind is a mess of thoughts, clashing and angry and horrified. He had promised no one would die, he had promised this would be easy, but now bullets are flying and an old man is dead and Alisha is trying to fight for her life and even though their tattoos don’t match, she loves this girl and decides to follow her. 

Alisha is dragging Tara around the back end of a truck when the smaller of the two catches it, the site of her blood-covered sister carrying her limp child and suddenly the world is much blurrier and she can’t tell if she’s walking on her own or if Alisha is simply tugging her but she can’t feel anything. The Governor has just shot her niece and there’s not a damned thing she can do about it. 

Everything happens all at once—one minute she's trudging after Alisha and the next she's being shoved into a small gated area, told to stay there. “I will come and find you, I promise.” The former soldier says softly, pressing a gentle kiss to Tara’s forehead before darting off. 

She waits for hours, watching the biters amble by, her chin resting on her knees. By this time, she knows the worst has happened, they’ve all lost and now she’s alone. It isn’t until a man comes along, decked out in riot gear, that she wonders if there’s hope while all at once he is confirming her fears. He takes her gun, pulls out the magazine. With a shrug she states the obvious, that she in fact hadn’t shot a single bullet. 

“Let’s go.” He states as Tara stares off into the distance, knowing deep inside herself that this whole loss is her fault. “You just gonna stay here, huh?” He grunts when she doesn’t move, lowering himself to her level. “You’re just going to die?”

“I was part of this.” She murmurs through numb lips and when he says that he knows, she turns to look at him, confusion in her eyes. “So what are you doing?”

“I need help,” is his only reply before he’s all action once more, constructing a Molotov before throwing it at a ruined car in front of their small safe space. She watches the biters turn toward the heated source of light and sound and suddenly her partner is ready to go. 

“I need you to stay ahead of me, alright?” He tells her and she nods despite herself. “I’ll help cover you, but I can’t do it alone.” He’s pulling on his helmet and pack straps and for a moment Tara wonders if she’s making the right decision, but then he’s asking if she’s ready and she doesn’t have an answer. She moves anyway.

They fight their way out, running through the mass of biters and she’s shooting when he yells for her to do so and keeps going because this man has asked her to follow him and lately it feels like that’s the only thing she’s good at.  _ Fight with us, keep up, follow me, stay here until I come back. _ So she follows and they make it out and somewhere in Tara’s heart a revelation is budding—she knows that she owes him her life, but not just the one he saved, it’s also the one he’s helping her run toward. 

 

She learns his name is Glenn and though the guilt never leaves her, she keeps walking with him—her gun is slipped into its place on her belt, her favorite hunting knife is clutched tightly in her hand. They’re silent except for Glenn’s wheezing and their footsteps, until he speaks. “Did you see any of my people get out?” 

Tara squeezes her eyes shut tightly for a moment before opening them, her answer already on her tongue. “All I saw was my sister in that field, she wasn’t supposed to be there.” She chokes out the words as her grip tightens around her knife out of habit. “She had a gun but they just swarmed her…she wasn’t supposed to be there.” 

She is quiet for a moment, shaking her head as she takes a few more steps. “I did it for him, I did it all because I trusted him and then when he just killed that old man…” 

“Hershel?” Glenn asks as she turns to look at him, instantly regretting it when she sees the pain on his face. “Was his name Hershel?” 

“I’m sorry…I’m so sorry.” That’s all she can make herself say while she steps away from him, worried about what might happen next. “Brian, that man, told us you were bad people. I know it’s not true now, I can see it’s not.” She sniffs lightly, shaking her head again. 

“So, what we did, what I did…I mean I’m a piece of shit, why would you want my help?” She asks, a sad little chuckle leaving her lips as she turns away from him, starting to walk again. 

“I don’t want it, I need it.” Glenn replies firmly and she can see his brow furrowing from the corner of her eye. “I have to find Maggie.” 

Tara can’t help but look at him again with a slightly annoyed expression. “Who’s Maggie?” She inquires, exasperation in her voice. “You guys got separated?” She asks after he admits Maggie is his wife. 

“I was on the bus and then I got off to help and she didn’t see me.” He shakes his head, running a hand through his hair. 

“How do you know if she made it?” She asks before she can stop herself but then she sees the tiniest spark of hope flicker in Glenn’s eyes. 

“I  _ don’t _ know, but Hershel, Maggie’s father, was a great man and he told me all I had to do was believe. That’s what I’m gonna do.” He smiles slightly and that flicker seems to grow into a flame that roars behind his tired eyes. “Neither one of us should be alive right now. She got out, so you’re going to help me find her.” 

Tara goes to open her mouth but he cuts her off. “Things aren’t over.” He pushes passed her, heading down the road once more. “They’re not over.”

She waits a few moments before turning, her heart hanging low in her chest. “I wanna believe that…I want to.”  _ God _ , did she want to—she wanted to believe that this man could find his wife, wanted to believe she could be happy, but the world just seemed so far gone…

“You have to,” is all Glenn says before continuing his trip down the road. They only get a few paces further before they hear it, the low raspy moans of biters crashing through the underbrush. It doesn’t take long to take them out, but when Glenn collapses after the ordeal she grows terrified. 

“Glenn…Glenn, come on.” She says softly, tapping his face gently but he’s out like a light and there’s a hungry biter growling behind her. She grabs his gun and swings it around, smacking the zombie backward so that she can knock it over and finish the job with the butt of the gun, crushing it’s soft skull with a few hard hits. 

She stands up straight as a military truck suddenly roars up next to them, her chest heaving, anger flaring in her chest. “Hope you enjoyed the show, assholes!” She shouts, all but baring her teeth as the door swings open. 

She takes in the three strangers one at time—the built, red head speaks first, making her tense up. “You got a damn mouth on ya, know that?” He asks with a chuckle and she glares at him, knowing she couldn’t take him on even if she tried. “What else ya got?” 

She snorts, eyes moving from the brick shithouse of a man to the small, pudgy brunette one next to him. He has dark piggy eyes sunk into his fat face and a stringy mullet framing it. She wonders how he managed to make friends with a soldier like the redhead. 

When her eyes fall on the only female in the group, her heart clenches in her chest, butterflies erupting in her stomach.  _ Oh, shit, I died, that’s a fucking angel.  _ She thinks, taking in the Latina as if she were the last thing Tara would see. She looks around the same age as her, maybe a few years younger, with curves Tara clearly lacked. Her tanned skin is hugged by a pair of khaki shorts and what may have been a fatigue shirt at one point with the sleeves cut off, tied over a faded blue crop top. Dark hair is pulled into pigtails which are kept under a patrol cap, making Tara smirk slightly. 

She glances at the unconscious man next to her and a small part of her says it would be safer to leave him and for a moment she considers it, but as she looks back to the group she realizes that she can’t, he saved her life and now it was her turn to save his. So, she straightens her back,  _ something  _ swelling in her chest as she looks the redhead in the eyes. 

“I’ve got a sick friend and people to look for, what you got?” Tara asks, mimicking the soldier’s accent, hand hovering over her side arm out of habit. She figured she was as good as dead either way. 

“A ride and a mission, you in?” He asks and she can’t think of a safer option than a damn  _ military truck _ . She relaxes ever so slightly, eyes flickering toward Glenn’s unconscious body, before nodding slowly. “Alright then, help me load your buddy into the back.” 

Tara nods again before grabbing Glenn under the legs, allowing the soldier to get his torso, and together they heave him into the back of the truck as gently as possible. Tara grabs their measly supplies before hopping in as well, inching Glenn closer toward her to keep an eye on him. 

“I’m Abraham by the way, my partners Rosita Espinosa and Eugene Porter. What’s your name kid?” He asks and Tara somehow keeps herself from rolling her eyes. 

“Tara Chambler,” she replies before glancing toward her unconscious companion. “This is Glenn.” She turns back to Abraham and he nods, a slight smile on his lips. 

“Good to meet you,” he murmurs and for a moment Tara isn’t quite so scared. Sure, they’re with a bunch of strangers, but they’re safe for now and that’s what matters. 

She leans her head against the back of the cab as the engine roars to life and they head down the road, her eyes glued to the horizon for a short while, until the window beside her opens and there’s a pair of dark eyes watching her. Dark eyes that make her remember those butterflies all over again.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, one zombified soulmate au. Thank you all for your wonderful support and comments, you guys are fantastic readers.

Tara is silent for the first hour or so after being picked up, eyes focused on every landmark, turn, and road sign they pass so she can write it down, set on going back if need be. When they pass a faded blue bus, she writes it down, cringing at the blood splattered windows. Decaying arms swinging from the open ones. “Shit…” She murmurs, glancing down at Glenn, just hoping that wasn’t the bus he had been looking for.

“Hey, where are we headed anyway?” She asks through the window, watching as a pair of dark eyes turn to look at her. “I mean, you want my help or whatever, but I don’t even know what’s going on.”

Rosita glances at Abraham for a moment and the man nods his head before the Latina is looking at her again. “We’re headed to Washington; we have to get Eugene there as soon as possible.”

“That’s so specific,” Tara replies with a snort, her fingers slipping into her jean pocket, fiddling with the cool metal device there. The iPod had been a gift from her sister before the world went to shit and it even held a charge and though she wants nothing more than to listen to some tunes, now is not the time.

Before Rosita can continue to explain the situation, she is interrupted by Abraham, who then goes on a long winded rant about Eugene being the only one who may be able to save the world and Tara can’t help but be skeptical.

“Yeah, save the world, whatever you say pal.” She shakes her head, picking at her jeans. She’d love to have that kind of hope, she really would, but the world ended for a reason, they had pissed someone off enough to deserve this, there was no going back.

She listens to Abe go on and on about how it was true and how they would be the saviors of humankind, but she tuned it out after a good ten minutes, instead she goes back to paying attention to the scenery, writing down big landmarks.

She knows it’s been hours since they’ve passed the bus, but she writes down the stop sign with the balloons on it nonetheless, her brows furrowing as the truck slows to a stop. A few biters amble up to the back and Tara reacts out of instinct, picking up her gun and cocking it, only to freeze when Abe shouts at her not to shoot.

She watches in sick fascination as he dispatches one, and knocks another over, having trouble with the third. She hopes down, brows raised at him as she hands over her gun. He takes out the remaining walkers with ease and all the while he has a smile on his face.

“Never seen that before,” Tara says as she takes back her gun, watching him retrieve the tire iron from the head of the female walker he had left it in.

“I’ve seen you do the same thing,” He states, shaking his head a bit, a look of disbelief on his face.

“You smiled,” She states simply, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “You were smiling,” she repeats, wondering what kind of psycho she had managed to get them tangled up with.

“Well, I’m the luckiest guy in the world.” Abe replies, shrugging his shoulders a bit. “Now, how about you help me with one of these cars?”

He doesn’t really give her an option so she tucks the gun back by Glenn and helps Abe move the obstacle out of the way. The task gives her time to reflect for a moment, deciding that even though this may have been a poor decision, it was still safer than being stranded three hours back.

Their trip seems to go much smoother after they’ve passed the small pile up and she finds herself spacing out just a bit, jumping when she feels the body next to her begin to stir. “Hey, don’t move,” she says softly, putting her hands on his shoulders to keep him from sitting up.

“Here’s some water,” Tara murmurs as she starts to undo the lid, holding it out to the man, keeping it close when he doesn’t take it.

“Where are we?” He croaks, trying to sit up, his eyes darting around the back of the truck.

“I don’t know; we were fighting biters and you passed out, right after we left the prison. I didn’t know what to do, the back of the truck seemed safer than the side of the road,” Tara rushes the reply out, scanning his face, trying to find out if he’s okay.

Glenn seemingly dismisses the information as he pushes himself up, turning to face the window, which had been closed due to Abe’s anger at Tara’s disbelief of his story. “Hey, hey, hey.” She murmurs, hands on his shoulder, trying to steady him.

“Did we pass a bus? On the road, did we pass a bus?” He asks, eyes turning wide at her affirmative. “What did you see?” He ends up repeating the question when Tara hesitates and it makes her frown a bit.

“They were all dead,” she says after a moment, their eyes lock and she can see the pain behind his dark irises. It takes him a few seconds before he asks how long it’s been since they past the bus and she just sighs softly, the answer falling from her lips. “Three hours.”

He seems to nod a bit, his gaze flickering from the back of the truck to the window before he starts yelling at Abe to stop the truck. He’s met with a middle finger and Tara can tell Glenn’s mad by the way he slams his fist against the glass and she decides to join in.

“Hey, numbnuts! Stop the truck!” She yells, hand slamming against the cool metal of the cab. She misses Glenn picking up his discarded weapon but steps back when she catches the movement of him drawing it back, the butt end poised over the glass.

He slams it into the window all the while screaming to stop the truck, over and over until finally Abe relents and the truck slows to a stop. It doesn’t take long for Glenn to be all action once more and their things are gathered. They’re off the truck before any of the other occupants and started down the road before Abe starts yelling at them.

“Where the hell are you going? Where the hell is h.e going?” He shouts and they both ignore him, continuing their walk. “I don’t know what your lady friend has told you about the special nature of the mission we’re on, but this shit is time sensitive.” Abe speaks, moving in front of Glenn as he continues his rant.

“We are already way behind schedule, so I need you to turn your ass around and get back in the truck,” Abe states, pointing toward their ride. “Seems like neither one of you has been paying attention to the hell on earth we’ve been living in, so let me tell you how to best avoid winding up as just another dead-alive prick.”

Abe’s rant about sticking together and needing a team seems to go on for hours, all the while Glenn is staring at him like someone watching paint dry. Tara shifts her weight nervously, the grip on her knife tightening when Abraham lays a hand on Glenn. She can see the anger on Glenn’s face and she wonders what will happen next.

It isn’t until Abe brings up Eugene and the mission that Glenn starts to pause, to ask questions, all of which the soldier seems to have answers for. He introduces the rest of the team to him and explains everything he’s already told Tara.

Glenn runs a hand through his hair, shaking his head a bit and he asks what happened, only to have Eugene tell them that it’s classified. Tara has to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from snorting at the lame-ass answer. She can see the disbelief on Glenn’s face and even though they both seem to be done with this story, Abe continues nonetheless. After another five minutes of him talking, she finds herself annoyed with his voice and starts imagining the short time before now where he had been quiet.

“Sorry,” Glenn says after Abe finally shuts up, and before the redhead can start in on them again, he starts walking away.

Tara follows him and even though she can feel the others behind them, she speaks. “I had to get us off that road, you were passed out, we were out of bullets.” She feels the need to explain why she had made the decision that she had but she’s unsure why. “I do know how to get back to that bus, though, I wrote down every turn. I'll get you back if I can, okay?”

“That’s where she’d go to find me, that’s where I’m going to go,” is his only reply.

Tara rolls her eyes when Abraham speaks again, gritting her teeth a bit at the bluntness of his statement. It may seem like a waste of time to him, but she knows better, she knows that Glenn had hope that burned far brighter than any uncertainty.

“Tara told us what went down and there is zero chance that you will ever find your wife again, alive or dead.” The soldier speaks and Tara can almost feel the anger rolling off of her companion. “Mainly because, sorry to tell you, she’s gone. No need for you to die too.”

“Now come on, get back in the truck, do something with your life.” As Abraham speaks, Tara watches her partner—brows furrowing when he pauses, dropping his bag to the ground. She’s sure that Abe thinks he’s given in, but she knows better, she can see the way he tenses ever so slightly when the redhead keeps talking.

When he turns around Tara knows she’s right and Glenn proves it by slamming his fist into Abraham’s face. “She’s alive and I’m going to find her,” Glenn says, picking up his bag once more to continue down the road.

Tara reacts faster than she thought possible when Abraham tackles Glenn to the ground and she can hear Rosita yelling at the soldier as she tries to break them up. She gets shoved off pretty quickly, but finds she’s given Glenn enough leverage to shoulder the redhead off of him.

The scuffle goes on for a short while, both women trying to keep the men off of each other, not one of them paying attention to the scientist who starts yelling. Honestly, it isn’t until they hear gunshots that they all jump apart. Eugene is firing at a small group of biters, not hitting a damned one in the head, but managing to hit just about everything else, including the truck.

Abe and Rosita are yelling at him and Glenn is screaming about getting a gun and when they all have weapons, they dispatch the group with ease. There’s gas spilling from the truck and even though Abe swears up and down that it had been through literal hell and back, it’s pronounced dead and they find themselves stuck together despite earlier tension.

And thus, three becomes five, and they’re headed back up the road, the soldier swearing that they’re only going as far as it takes for them to find a new ride and then they’ll become a trio once more. Tara isn’t sure how she feels about this news, but if she has a destination and something to fight for, she’ll keep going.

She’s not quite sure how long they’ve been walking before Abraham opens his mouth again and it takes all she has not to shut him up. “Gotta hand it to him, he’s a persistent son of a bitch.”

“I get why you’re following him. You’re loyal,” He states and she just listens, lets him drone on because it’s the easiest option. “You’re a good person. I like it, but what we’re doing—I don’t know how else to say it, saving the world is just more important.

“I mean, even if he does find his wife, so what? How long do you think they’ll live happily ever after if we don’t get Eugene up to Washington?” He asks and she’s sure it’s rhetorical, but she speaks anyway.

“You think that because I’m following Glenn, that makes me a good person?” Tara asks, hoping that perhaps this will get him off-topic, but of course she’s wrong. The man chuckles beside her, telling her that she is good and she snorts softly.

“You don’t know anything about me, just like I don’t know anything about why you’re going to Washington,” she states, pausing for a moment before continuing. “I get why Eugene is going; he’s the only one who knows how to end this, and Rosita, well. She loves you, she’ll follow you anywhere, that much is obvious.” She shakes her head a bit.

“But why the hell did _you_ agree to drive him halfway across the country?” She asks and rolls her eyes at the answer. It truly was hard to believe he just wanted to save the world. “Because you’re a good person? If you're not going to tell me why, fine, just don’t lie to me.” She finishes, pulling ahead of him as they continue their journey. She doesn’t want to listen to him speak anymore, doesn’t want to hear how he thinks she’s a good person, she knows she’s not.

She finds company with Eugene, allowing him to ramble on about his many theories on the infected and oddly enough it’s soothing to her. There’s just something about the way he prattles on, not asking questions that need answers, not trying to get to know her, he just talks and it’s monotone enough that she can tune it out enough to stay alert.

He’s been going on about how the infection may have caused the dinosaurs to go extinct as they walk down the middle of the train tracks and even though he sounds preposterous, she finds herself smiling ever so slightly. It isn’t until he’s finishing up his little rant that she finds a quarter on the rails and she holds it up while he describes all the necessary ingredients to make a battery.

She hands over the coin with indifference, finding his enthusiasm for the small gift amusing. He continues to go on about video games, asking her what kind of gamer she was and she doesn’t really have an answer so she shrugs and he seems to take it as a sign to keep talking. She doesn’t mind, it fills the otherwise silent atmosphere, gives her something to focus on other than their seemingly endless trek.

They make camp a short way away from the tracks when the sun starts to set and Tara finds herself going off to find proper firewood as a distraction. It doesn’t take long before she has an armful, bringing it back to the group, dropping it in the center of the ring they’ve formed, and Rosita goes about fixing up a fire and even makes them dinner.

Tara’s stomach clenches at the thought of a hot meal, the last time she had eaten was before the prison, before things had gone to hell. The Latina hands her a bowl of what appears to be cream of mushroom soup with some sort of vegetable and she takes it from her quicker than she means to, flushing slightly.

Her eyes flicker down to the tattoo displayed along the tanned skin of Rosita’s collarbone, on the tattoo there. _Oh, shit, I died, that’s a fucking angel._ Her eyes widen a bit at the sentence before she tears them away, forcing a grateful smile onto her face. “Thank you,” she spits the words out as evenly as possible as her heart thuds hard in her chest.

She closes her eyes for a moment, the black text etched into the back of her lids—the very thought she had when she first laid eyes on the girl, all those hours ago. _She’s my fucking soulmate, are you shitting me?_ She thinks to herself, shaking her head before her eyes snap open once more and she makes herself eat the food in her hand, refusing to look anywhere but the bowl.

Of course the one woman she’s destined to be with is with the shit-brickhouse of a man, and with that thought in mind, she decides that the universe is, in fact, a very cruel thing. And even though everything tells her that she’s supposed to say something, she’s supposed to make this known, she clamps down on the words threatening to spill out, running a hand through her hair. She was not going to force this woman to be with her, not when Rosita was clearly so happy with Abraham, she wouldn’t do that to her soulmate. She couldn’t.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wowzers it's been a while, but I've got my stride back and hopefully I'll be updating a lot more soon. Thank you all for your patience and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Tara’s back is to the biggest tree in the clearing, her eyes flickering from her sleeping group members to the surrounding forest. She takes a deep breath; opening her senses, listening to the sounds of the night, waiting for the familiar groan of the dead. It takes all she has not to jump when Abe sits down beside her, nudging her shoulder a bit. “Go to sleep, I’ve got this,” She says, adjusting the grip on her knife. 

“No offense, but I’m not leaving Eugene’s life in your hands,” He says, shaking his head a bit when she reminds him that he asked for their help. “You’re support, not point. We’ll move north with you until I find the right vehicle just off the tracks and then five becomes three.” 

“Or two,” Tara hums, rubbing a hand over her face, eyes flickering around the clearing once more. Her heart clenches in her chest when she sees Rosita sit up and stretch before rolling over, hopefully to catch some more sleep. 

“We each have our missions,” Abe says, nodding to himself, watching the way Tara’s gaze moves across the camp. “You need to get some sleep, I haven’t seen you do it yet.” He says, the words making Tara turn her head toward him. 

“Thought it was because you were in love with him,” He chuckles, smoothing a hand over the top of his head. “A girl in love with a guy she’s trying to help get to his girl. If there were the case, well, closing your eyes would be just too damn tragic.”

“If that were the case,” Tara chuckles softly, shaking her head a bit, only to nearly bite her tongue when Abe brings up that she had been looking at Rosita’s chest. “Yeah...sorry about that.” She says, ears burning at the thought. 

She knew she couldn’t say otherwise and decided to let him go along with this theory. “Hey, those things are damn near hypnotic,” Abe chuckles, shrugging a bit. “Look, Eugene spends half the day staring at her ass, I’m not mad. Just means my theory’s shot.” 

Tara does her best not to roll her eyes, forces herself to react as little as possible as she glances over to their sleeping comrades. “I’m awfully sorry about that,” She hums, shaking her head, resting her chin against her hand. 

“You were in the army. I get the gung ho, mission is your life, bullshit,” She says when Abe asks her why she’s doing it. When he agrees that she gets it, she continues. “Yeah. So, we both got our reasons. Both got our missions. So, what do you do when the mission is over?” 

They sit in silence after that, Tara never moving from her spot, her mind a mess of images. Her father turning, leaving with Brian, the camp, Alisha, her family...all dead. She was supposed to protect them, she failed and now, well now her mission was over and she was on to a new one. She may not have been able to save her people, but she sure as hell would do everything to help Glenn find his.

Once morning comes, Tara finds herself seeking out the other woman during their trek toward Terminus, wanting to talk with her, to know her. The thing about Rosita is that she isn’t an open book, often requesting the same information from the officer before answering. So, when the time came that Tara wanted to know what life was like for Rosita before Abe, she should have expected the Latina’s first response. 

“What was life like before you met Glenn? Before your new mission?” Rosita asks, glancing over at her companion before her eyes move to watch the men in front of them. 

Tara pauses for a moment, biting her lip as she ponders how much to tell, before deciding that it couldn’t hurt to tell her most of it. “I was living with my sister, her daughter and our father for a while. We would take care of our dad, he had stage four lung cancer and we never expected him to live as long as he did,” She says softly, fingers instinctively running over her side arm, the only gift she had from her father.

“Then one day, this man shows up outside of our building, near death and we let him into our home. We questioned him for a while, told us his name was Brian and he kept doing us favors and in the end he ended up giving mercy to our father when he passed...he saved me and so we trusted him,” She shakes her head a little, her stomach churning as she thinks about how good of a person he seemed to be. 

She runs a hand through her hair, glancing up at the men before looking back down at her feet for a moment. “We traveled together until we found a camp that took us in and I met this girl who called me out on my shit...all the time,” She smiles sadly as she thinks about Alisha, the moments they shared. “Then some shit started happening, people dying, leadership issues...next thing we know we’re looking for a town to hole up in, to fortify and it was...great.”

“We had a real home and I felt like I was important and my family was safe...the girl I loved was safe and for the first time since this shit show started, I felt like we could make a difference, like  _ I  _ could make a difference,” She sighs softly, looking over at the other woman, finding herself being watched by a soft gaze. 

She tries her best to offer a smile but only manages a slight grimace. “Anyway, Brian found out there were people at the prison up the road, told us they were bad people and because he had kept us safe for so long, we trusted him, just followed him blindly into battle and I watched so many innocent people die...my niece, my sister, I don’t even know what happened to Alisha...” She trails off, taking a slow breath. “She knew I didn’t want to fight, so she pushed me into a fenced in area, promised me she would be back...” 

Tara cringes just slightly covering it up by pulling out her knife, running her fingers along the blade. She had been a coward, she should have been with her, maybe then she would still be here. “Glenn found me after that and well, then we met you guys and the rest you know.” 

They’re quiet for a moment, before there’s a hand on her shoulder, warm and comforting. “Shit happens for a reason, Tara, don’t dwell too much on the past, it doesn’t define us.” Rosita murmurs, offering the other woman a smile that could light up the darkest of rooms. 

Tara lets out a half-hearted chuckle, mock punching Rosita’s side. “Alright, but now it’s your turn, you big sap,” she smirks, earning a gentle smack from the other woman. 

“Well, I was in the military, I was a combat medic, or at least I was training to be one and I happened to make friends with a few of the guys on the mechanics team and started to learn how to maintain a vehicle, it’s really not hard, it just takes patience and I had plenty of it, sick soldiers are some of the whiniest people in the world,” She snorts, glancing up at Abe with a small smile. 

“After everything went down, I managed to make if off of the base and find a decent place to stay, it was a post office that had sliding metal doors, I would keep them down and go out the back entrance to scavenge, though there were some pretty decent treats in some of the packages left,” She teases and there’s just something about the way she retells the story that makes Tara wonder if she’s getting the whole truth. 

“Abe found me a few months later, I was surrounded by a small group of walkers and I had used my last bullet, I probably could have managed but he took pity on me and helped clear them out, we went back to the post office and grabbed what supplies I had, my clothes and stuff and he told me about the mission,” Rosita snorts, shaking her head as she looks up at her friend. “I thought he was full of shit, but who was I to argue with a man of his size and after Eugene talked to me for a while, I figured it was my duty to go with them, if not just to be safer.” 

Tara nods at that, knowing how safety can be a huge factor in deciding where to go and who to go with. “And then you fell in love?” She finds herself asking, despite the ache that ripples through her chest at the words.

“Sort of, I mean we bicker a lot and it’s mostly because he’s too bullheaded to listen to anyone but himself, but he’s always had my back and to be honest, I’m not sure where I’d be without him,” Rosita admits, shrugging her shoulders a bit. "We're not soulmates, but we're all we've got."

Tara forces a smile on her face as she nods a little, “I’m glad you found him,” She says, trying to her best to keep her voice even, her heart clenching in her chest.

Rosita nods a bit, biting her lip as she glances over at her friend. "Was she your soulmate? Alisha?" She asks softly, something more than curiosity in her tone. 

The cop is quiet as she mulls over whether to tell the truth or not. "She wasn't, but it didn't matter, we loved each other, we didn't need a tattoo to tell us that," She says honestly, her mouth stinging with the bitterness of the admission. Neither girl speaks after that, eyes set on the road, silently enjoying the comfort of the other's touch, neither daring to tell the other. 

“We’re stopping here. Tired is slow and slow is dead,” Abe announces as they come upon a tower that seems easy enough to climb. “I don’t give a monkey’s left nut. None of us has slept more than a couple hours straight since we went all Casey Jones,” He responds when Glenn points out that it was barely noon. 

Glenn opens his mouth to argue, interrupted by the hissing moans of a walker making it's way toward the edge of the platform. Everyone reacts at once, Glenn trying to get to Eugene at the same time as Abraham, causing the larger man to push Tara aside, pulling the scientist back as he does. 

A sharp pain shoots up Tara’s leg when her knee slams into the ground, familiar tingles creeping up her thigh. She rolls into a sitting position, clutching her knee, teeth grinding together. “I’m fine,” She manages to force out when Rosita asks, allowing the other girl to help her up. 

“Look, if she can keep going, we all can. Or you can stay here, you don’t need us and we don’t need you.” Glenn announces once Tara says she’s good to go. The pain in her leg is tolerable for now and the last thing she wants is to be the reason they’re stopping. 

“Wow, you are such an ass!” Rosita scoffs, noticing the way Tara is favoring one leg. “She will do anything you say because she thinks she owes you. Man up,”

In the end there’s a deal struck that results in Eugene getting the riot gear and a promise that the five will make it to Terminus together.They move on after that.

Tara does her best to move along, ignoring the pain radiating from the back of her knee and up into her hip. There’s a moment where she’s tempted to just sit down and let them leave her, but she can’t bring herself to abandon this mission, to abandon the fight. 

“That fall wasn’t too bad, you shouldn’t be hurt like this,” Rosita says softly, watching Tara limp. “Unless it’s a preexisting condition and it got agitated,” She hums and Tara can tell she’s prying for information.

“I tore my ACL when I was in the academy. We were all assigned to a senior officer to do tagalongs.” Tara shakes her head a bit, thinking back to the days before the world went to shit. “My officer got a call that there was a robbery at this local pizza joint and so we headed there and I ended up chasing one guy, nearly had him too.” She pauses, grinding her teeth together at a particularly sharp stab of pain. 

“Nearly had him too, but his partner tackled me, landed with my knee bent at a funny angle.” She runs a hand through her hair to give her something to do other than focusing on the pain. “I remember it feeling like my leg was on fire, remember not being able to move it...fucked up my chances of being a real police officer.” 

Rosita is quiet for a moment, glancing at the men in front of them before reaching over to pull the girl’s arm over her shoulder, sliding her own arm around Tara’s waist, taking some of the weight off of the injured knee. “Real officer? Aren’t all cops, real?” She asks, knowing Tara doesn’t want or need an apology for something that happened in the past. 

“I suppose to pedestrians it seems like that, but I got stuck learning how to process inmates, started to lose respect from my peers because I was a desk jockey,” Tara snorts, ignoring the wave of pleasure that washes over her from the closeness. She feels calmer than she had during this whole trek, having her soulmate pressed against her. She knows deep down she really should say something, bring up their connection, but as soon as she catches a glimpse of Abraham’s red hair in her peripheral, she stamps the feelings down once more.  

“Then they weren’t really worth your time, places like that, they’re machines that only work if every part is doing their job. What would they do if they didn’t have people processing criminals? Shit would back up and people would end up slipping through the cracks.” Rosita reasons, offering her companion a smile. 

Tara’s heart skips a beat as she nods, committing that smile to memory, unsure of how long she has to enjoy it. “Thanks,” is all she can manage to say as they continue forward. 

It isn’t long before they end up stopping again, this time in front of a large tunnel echoing with the raspy groans of the dead. “You hear that? That there is a long, dark tunnel full of reanimated corpses. I don't have full-on certainty that I can get Eugene through there alive.” Abe states, looking from Glenn to the tunnel and back again. “My recommendation would be take the day, make the detour and play it safe, but I know you're not gonna do that. So this is where we've got to part ways. I'm sorry. You're on your own.”

Tara shakes her head, making her way to stand next to Glenn, already missing the comforting warmth Rosita’s touch had provided. “No, you’re not,” She informs him, nodding a bit. 

She’s touched when Abe leaves them two cans of food and a flashlight, watching as the two men seem to come to terms in their own, weird little way. 

“Sorry I punched you in the face,” Glenn says after a moment, looking much like a child whose mother asked them to make nice. 

“I’m not, I like to fight,” Abraham chuckles, clapping the man on the shoulder before doing the same with Tara. 

She’s surprised when Rosita hugs Glenn and even more surprised when she’s pulled into a hug of her own. Tara closes her eyes for a moment, memorizing the warmth of the other girl, hoping this wouldn’t be the last time she feels it. “Be safe,” The soldier murmurs in her head before pulling away, offering the smallest of smiles. 

Tara’s chest is filled with butterflies, fluttering around her heart as her and Glenn head toward the tunnel, only to be stopped by Eugene putting in his own two cents. “I have to say that you are seriously hot, Tara,” 

She frowns a little, her brow furrowing at the man. “Yeah...I like girls,” She replies, watching as the man takes a minute to process this information. 

“I’m well aware of that,” He says in return, as Tara rolls her eyes a bit, turning toward the entrance of the tunnel, missing the surprised look on Rosita’s face. 

“You ready?” Glenn asks as they head inside, his voice quiet. She’s not entirely sure how to answer, so she just nods and allows him to lead them into the dark unknown. 


	4. Chapter 4

“Hey, I know what you’re going through,” Glenn murmurs as they head into the tunnel, his words echoing off of the stone walls. “After this all started, I realized I’d never see my family, my friends again, I was numb.”   
  
Tara has been watching her feet as he speaks, unsure how to feel. He had to know what it felt like to be walking away from his soulmate, though she doubted he knew that’s why she was so upset. “All day long, just numb. I’m just saying...I get it.” He finishes softly, reaching to rest a hand on her shoulder.   
  
They continue on in silence for a little while, just listening to their footsteps before Tara comes up with something to say. “When Brian told us he wanted to take over the prison, I knew it sounded bad,” She starts, biting her lip, eyes focused on the beam of light her companion had trained ahead of them.   
  
“My girlfriend is dead...my niece, my sister,” Tara takes a slow breath, hands shaking. “She was surrounded, pounced on, I saw it happen, but it still wasn’t as bad as seeing what he did to Maggie’s father.” She admits, the weight of the guilt settled low in her gut.   
  
Glenn stops to look at her, pain in his dark eyes as they stare at her. She can feel herself breaking under that gaze, her lip trembling as she speaks. “Because that’s when I knew.” Her brow furrows as she tries to put what she’s feeling into words. “The second that sword--I wanted to scream no but it just happened.”  
  
“Brian said we might have to kill people and I was the first to jump in,” She says softly, shaking her head a bit as she looks away for a moment. “I was just hanging on the might,” She murmurs lowly, glancing at him once more before starting forward again.   
  
They’re quiet once again and even though it makes her skin crawl, Tara is grateful. She’s unsure of how long they’d been walking before they come across the large pile of rubble, half crushed zombies groaning from under the rock.   
  
Glenn takes a panicked moment to look at the exposed faces and if Tara is being honest with herself, she looks too, hoping beyond hope that she doesn’t see any fresh ones. She makes her way over to him, noting how hard he seems to be masking the sadness on his face.   
  
“Glenn, the blood is still wet, this had to have happened today,” Tara says, watching as he turns his eyes upward, shining the light toward the ceiling. There’s a large chunk missing, the earth above it showing like an old battle wound. “Hold this,” he says after a moment, handing her the flashlight before drawing his knife.   
  
He takes the light back before he starts dispatching the dead, giving them a clear path through the rubble. When he starts to climb, she frowns a bit, but doesn’t slow down. She does her best to ignore the pain flaring through her leg, occasionally letting out a gasp when something pulls a little too hard. She somehow manages enough strength to crush a walkers skull before continuing up. Glenn is frozen in his spot, light trained ahead. Once she’s up, she sees what he’s staring at, a small herd of walkers are all milling around the other side, arms reaching toward them.   
  
“Glenn, what are you doing?” She whispers, watching as he scoots toward the edge, shining his light across the crowd. She watches him, tension rippling through her, she doesn’t want to lose the only good thing she’s got left.   
  
“She’s not one of them,” He states after a second and even then she’s confused. “Yeah, there’s no bodies on the ground, it mean’s Maggie’s made it through. She made it through,” He states, turning away from the herd.   
  
“We don’t have enough ammo,” She murmurs when he says they have to push through. “We have to find another way, we didn’t get this far for you to be eaten.” Tara says, trying her best not to sound as terrified as she is.   
  
Glenn lets out a soft sigh, running a hand through his hair as he thinks. “There’s gotta be something...”  
  
After a short while, Tara claps her hands together, a grin on her face. “Glenn the light, they’re attracted to the light,” She says, nodding toward the flashlight. “We could set it up on the other side of the pile, they’ll be distracted long enough for us to run.”  
  
“You’re a genius,” Glenn chuckles, before he’s climbing down. He helps her make it down and they busy themselves with positioning the flashlight just right, moving rocks here and there until they can hear the walkers crowd around it.   
  
They wait a few minutes, until they’re sure that they can make it and start the climb over the other side. Tara hasn’t felt proud of herself in a long time and the moment is short lived when she makes her way down the other side. A loose rock slides as she steps down, pinning her already injured leg. She gasps out as the pain radiates from the spot on her calf, fingers clawing at the stone, trying to get it to budge.  
  
“Tara. What is it? What is it?” Glenn asks softly, panic evident in his low tone. He does his best to try and move the rock, but the angle that it’s wedged at leaves no wiggle room. “Come on, get up, get up, get up,” He murmurs, grunting as he tries to pull the rock away.   
  
“There’s no moving it,” She whispers to herself, accepting her fate pretty easily. Perhaps karma had finally caught up to her and this was her way to make up for everything. “Glenn, go...” She breathes, eyes flickering over to the herd. “Go, go find Maggie. Find Maggie,” She pants, tears threatening to spill over. She wouldn’t keep this man from his soulmate, she was going to finish her mission this time.   
  
“Glenn, you can’t save me,” Tara says, a sad smile on her face. “Even if you got this off me, I can’t run and if you help me, they’re going to get both of us.”  
  
“There’s got to be a way. There’s got to be a different way,” Glenn growls lowly, fierce determination in his eyes as he looks up at her before he’s yanking at the rock once more. “I’m not leaving. I’m not leaving you!” He yells when she points out that the walkers were coming toward them.   
  
She knows he’s too good, that he won’t leave but a part of her just needs to fight, needs to make sure he gets back to his soulmate. “Get out of here!” She shouts as loudly as she can muster. “Go!”  
  
Tara thinks she’s convinced him when he backs off the boulder, but then that look in his eyes is still burning bright as he turns around. “No,” Is all he says before his gun is drawn and he’s taking down as many walkers as his ammo will allow and even when that’s gone, he pulls his knife out ready to die for a girl he barely knows. “Come on!” He shouts at the dead, but all Tara can focus on is the light at the end of the tunnel, the sound of an engine echoing off the walls.   
  
It’s a blinding sort of brightness, making their eyes burn as a familiar voice calls out. “Get down!” And before she knows it, Glenn is throwing himself in front of her as shots ring out in the tunnel.   
  
Perhaps she was wrong, maybe this was life’s way of telling her that she had to keep moving, that she needed to stay strong. It isn’t long before the shots die down and Glenn is pulling away from her, shielding his eyes from the light as he tries to see who had come to their rescue.   
  
Tara squints at the figures, her heart throbbing at the sight of a familiar field hat, perched on top of pigtails.”Rostia,” She whispers, the name going unheard as Glenn stumbles toward a woman. The two hug tightly, the woman she can only assume to be Maggie sobbing into her companion’s shoulder.   
  
She lets the two have their moment, knowing how badly they needed it, but then there’s a throb in her leg and she can’t stifle the pained gasp that passes her lips, the sound echoing off the concrete. “Shit, what happened to her?” Rosita is asking while Tara struggles a bit, wanting nothing more than to get the stupid stone off of her leg.   
  
“We were climbing over and she slipped and the rock pinned her leg down,” Glenn replies, pulling away from Maggie slowly. “I can’t get it off of her myself, trust me, we’ve tried.”   
  
After some maneuvering and some painful whimpers from Tara, they manage to free her, Rosita catching her as she falls forward. “Woah there, I’ve got you,” The soldier is saying softly and Tara finds it hard to focus on anything but the soft thrum that seems to flow between them.   
  
“I’m okay, my leg just sort of gave up for a minute,” She mumbles, pulling away gently. She winces when she puts weight on her left leg, teeth clenching but she’s determined not to look weak.   
  
“Tara you’re bleeding,” Glenn murmurs and she finally looks down at her shin, sure enough there’s a rip in her jeans and the surrounding fabric is soaked in blood. ‘Let’s sit you down and we’ll clean it up.”   
  
She wants to argue, but then Rosita’s arm is around her waist again and she can’t bring herself to say no when she sees the pained look on her soulmate's face. Rosita is staring at the wound, her face scrunching slightly. She allows them to help her sit down by the car and everyone but Rosita goes to start moving the walker’s bodies off to the sides of the tunnel.   
  
“Let me just start a fire so I can boil some water and I’ll get you patched up,” Rosita murmurs, brushing her fingers along tara’s arm before moving to grab her bag out of the van.   
  
The touch sends shivers down her spine, but she does her best not to show how affected she is. Instead she busies herself with the task of rolling her pant leg up past the wound. Frowning at the amount of blood now on her hands, she just resigns herself to the fact that she’s going to have to wipe them on her jeans, until Rosita passes her a damp rag. “Thanks,” She murmurs, wiping her hands off slowly.   
  
Rosita just nods a bit before she gets up to find things she can burn, it doesn’t take long before there’s a small fire for them all to sit around. Maggie and Glenn sit side by side, each one occasionally glancing at her while Rosita cleans her wound.   
  
“I don’t think it needs stitches, but we need to watch out for infection,” The soldier murmurs as she dabs some vodka onto the gash, frowning when Tara flinches. “Sorry...”   
  
“It's okay, i can handle a little pain,” She says softly, watching Rosita grab a bandage to wrap around her leg. She’s still a little hung up on how Rosita said ‘we’ as if they would be staying together.   
  
“I know you can, stubborn ass,” Rosita replies, wrapping the wound slowly, deliberately. “You can walk on it, but we’re gonna have to find you something to use as a cane, take some of the weight off of your knee, give your leg a break for once.”   
  
“I’m sure I’ll manage,” Rosita murmurs, looking up as Glenn walks over, running a hand through his hair.   
  
“We’re almost done, Abe wants you to check out the end of the tunnel, make sure it’s secure,” He says, looking a little sheepish giving the girl orders.   
  
“Alright,” Rosita replies and Glenn looks shocked. “I’ll be back,” She murmurs to Tara as she gets up, stretching a bit. “Make sure she doesn’t over do it,” Is the last thing she says before grabbing her gun and walking toward the exposed end of the tunnel.   
  
Tara and Glenn share a look that says more than words ever could, each one grateful to be alive and for a moment, she doesn’t feel guilty. “I’ve got to finish up, but after I’ll introduce you to Maggie, okay?”   
  
She can only manage a nod, unsure of how she should feel, knowing what she knew. She tries to stay hopeful, even as she’s wiping dried blood from herself. She watches everyone work for a few moments before she snorts, standing up slowly, grabbing a gun and heading toward the end of the tunnel Rosita had disappeared down.   
  
She ignores the look Glenn gives her as she limps past, keeping her eyes forward. She felt drawn toward the other woman, like not seeing her for a few hours was the most terrible thing she had done in her short life. “Woah tiger, it’s just me,” Tara says, holding her hands up as she approaches Rosita, whose gun in drawn, pointed at her.  
  
“Jesus, Tara, I could have shot you, why aren’t you resting?” She asks, concern painted across her features as she moves to put an arm around the younger girl.   
  
“I don’t like sitting around while others are working, makes me feel useless,” Tara replies, offering a slight smile to the other woman. “Besides, I didn’t feel right, letting you do this on your own.”   
  
Rosita sighs softly, but doesn’t argue. “Fine, but let’s make this quick, this whole place bugs me a little,” She admits as they walk along, Tara’s uneven footsteps the only sound to be heard on this end of the tunnel.   
  
They make it to the other side, the sunsetting over the trees and the sight makes Tara smile. “I don’t think I’ve seen a more beautiful sunset,” Tara murmurs, absentmindedly squeezing Rosita.   
  
“I guess I never really stopped to watch it,” Rosita admits, turning her head to watch the other girl’s bright eyes glued to the horizon. “But, I suppose it is very beautiful,” She says, not even watching the pastel sky.   
  
Tara chuckles softly, shaking her head a bit as she looks away from the sky. “Well, there’s nothing here, we might as well head back,” She says,turning her head to look at her companion, shocked to find Rosita is already looking at her.   
  
The soldier clears her throat, looking away, back toward where their group is. “Yeah, let’s head back,” Rosita murmurs, allowing Tara to turn them around, doing everything at her pace.   
  
“Thank you, by the way,” Tara says softly as the light of the fire starts to appear. “For taking care of me,” She clarifies, turning her head to press a gentle kiss to Rosita’s cheek. A jolt runs down her spine at the contact and then she’s pulling away, trying to put some distance between them, hoping Rosita doesn’t notice.   
  
It isn’t until they make their way over to where Glenn and his wife are standing that Tara notices that her tattoo feels odd, itching like a giant bug bite. “How did it go?” Glenn asks, brows raised as he watched Tara limp closer.   
  
“The end of the tunnel is secure, we’ll hear anything that might come this way long before we see it,” Rosita murmurs, noticing the pained expression on Tara’s face, but doesn’t say anything as Maggie comes closer to the other girl.   
  
“We didn’t get to officially meet,” Maggie says softly, glaring playfully at her husband as she reaches a hand toward Tara.   
  
“Oh, I’m sorry. Tara this is Maggie. Maggie, Tara,” Glenn says, gesturing a hand between them as they shake, both women letting out a soft greeting when they do.   
  
There’s an awkward sort of silence as Tara struggles for something to say, before blurting out a nervous, “He’s a big fan of yours,” followed by a few equally anxious chuckles.   
  
Maggie grins at that, her gaze flickering between the woman and her husband. “I met Tara on the road, couldn’t have made it here without her.” Glenn says softly, earning a slight smile from Tara, before she’s surprised with a hug from Maggie.   
  
The woman’s grip is nearly bone crushing but Tara can feel how grateful Maggie is for everything, just through that one action. “Thank you,” She murmurs softly against Tara’s shoulder, squeezing her tightly before pulling away slowly.   
  
Tara is unsure how to feel, but guilt weighs heavy in her chest as she looks into Maggie’s dark eyes. She wants to say something, but Glenn beats her to it. “When she heard what I was doing, she said she had to help me. She’s just that kind of person.”   
  
The words do nothing but make her feel worse, but she forces a smile and shake of her head before limping past them both. She doesn’t feel like a good person, not when Maggie looks at her like she’s some kind of saint, because she knows she’s not.   
  
She barely makes it to her spot by the fire before everyone is talking about Eugene and the mission to Washington and how Abe feels like they should all cram themselves into the van and go and even though she’s not sure what she believes, she sees a way out of her current situation, a way to focus on something other than her own issues.   
  
“He’s right. I’m gonna go,” Tara finds herself saying, looking over Glenn, trying to control the emotions that flood through her at his hurt expression.   
“No, he’s wrong,” Eugene speaks up, startling everyone as they turn to look at the greasy haired man. “We’re fifty-five percent of the way from Houston to Washington. Up until now, we’ve had an armored military vehicle for transport and we lost eight people.”   
  
Tara frowns at that, but her gaze is drawn toward her soulmate, who looks as though she’s ready to punch the scientist in the mouth. “That wasn’t our fault,” She argues, only to have Abe remind her that they’re gone.   
  
“I can’t imagine we’d have better luck with that grocery grabber we picked up. We’re a day’s walk from Terminus, who knows what they’ve got there,” Eugene continues, eye flickering around the group.   
  
“It couldn’t hurt to check,” Rosita murmurs, shrugging her shoulders a bit. “Load up on supplies, maybe even recruit some of them to come with us,” Her eyes settling on Abraham like she’s challenging him to argue.   
  
Sasha and Bob, two of Glenn’s people, agree to go with them after Terminus and even though Tara’s sure Abe will argue, she’s proven wrong when he speaks. “He tells me I’m wrong...I listen. Tomorrow we go to the end of the line, then Washington,” And as if he were a judge ending a hearing, everyone just agrees and goes about their business.   
  
Tara lets out a soft sigh, making her way over to a spot far enough away from the fire that she might be left alone. She scratches at her wrist absentmindedly, trying to get the tingling sensation to leave her tattoo, watching the rest of the group settle in for the night.   
  
Glenn and Maggie are curled up by the fire, making eyes at one another. Eugene is sat by Abraham, both seeming absorbed in their own conversation. She smiles slightly, watching Sasha lay her head in Bob’s lap, both of them smiling softly at one another. Her heart aches for something like that and she finds herself drawn to Rosita again, finding her off to the side, her hair down, waves framing her face.   
  
There’s a pull low in Tara’s gut as she watches the other woman scratch at her collarbone, her brow furrowed as though she were in deep thought. “Shit,” Tara murmurs to herself, wondering if Rosita’s tattoo was doing the same thing hers was. 


	5. Chapter 5

Tara would never admit to being claustrophobic, especially not now. But the walls are starting to creep in and the heat is getting to her and she has to start focusing on the light filtering in through the gaps in the train car to keep herself from hyperventilating. They’ve been trying to figure out how to get out for the last few hours and while Tara wants to help, wants to fight, all she can think about is how she’d rather be anywhere but this box.

Night falls and they’ve all agreed to try and fight whoever comes to let them out the next day and while it's slightly comforting to her, the idea of escaping, she can’t help but think it's all for nothing. How could their little group stand up to an entire compound?

She tries not to think about it, tries to focus on anything but the way the walls start to press in once more. There isn’t enough moonlight to focus on and even though she acutely aware of how close her soulmate is, she can’t even find comfort in that.

So, she does what she’s always done to calm herself down. She starts tracing the slightly raised words along her wrist, slowing her breathing until she doesn’t feel like she’ll pass out. The idea that Rosita had thought the words etched along her skin gives Tara some hope, that even if they don’t end up together, she still has something to fight for.

She doesn’t know how to cope with the fact that Glenn has been taken, she doesn’t know how she’ll manage without his smart mouth and kind heart. Maggie seems as cool as stone about it and she wonders how. How can a wife be so calm about her husband being taken to god knows what kind of horror. But then she sees how Maggie fiddles with the pocket watch in her hands and the way she keeps pacing and she realizes that Maggie is wearing a mask.

She wants to offer comfort, to share their pain, maybe give a shoulder to cry on. Then she remembers watching Maggie’s father die and she can’t quite catch her breath enough to say anything.

They’re preparing for war from the moment the first walker bounces off the train car, everyone forming their own ideas about what happened since the explosion moments before. Carl, ever like his father, is the voice of reason and turns out to be right.

Rick returns, covered in blood, armed with a gun yelling that they need to move. Tara doesn’t remember much of the fight. She just knows that her heart was in her throat the whole time. She’s exhausted and in pain but there’s something about this group that gives her strength. She’s never felt like a warrior until she’s fighting alongside people who only want to live, never conquer.

She starts to breathe again when they’re safely over the fence, watching Rick dig for a hidden trove of guns. She has no intention of going back into the hell hole and nearly sobs when Rosita argues against Rick’s idea. Tara isn’t sure she can handle watching her soulmate endure that again.

They’re saved though, when a woman comes walking toward them, armed to the teeth. Tara is instantly wary, until one of Rick’s men, Daryl, runs toward her. The two exchange a bone-crushing hug and Tara aches a little.

“You should come with me,” The woman, Carol, says softly and suddenly they’re tromping through the woods again.

A rather large man steps out of the small shack they finally come upon, he’s holding a baby and Tara can’t help but tilt her head at the situation. Then Rick and Carl are rushing toward them and Rick is crying and Tara has to lower her eyes to her feet. She feels like she’s intruding on this family, this happy moment.

After a moment, she looks up and finds Rosita looking at her, her back turned to the group. Tara swallows hard, offering the woman a slight smile before they’re all being directed through the woods again. She doubts there’s a true destination in mind, but follows regardless.

___________

Tara has been walking with Glenn and Maggie until they stop in a clearing for some rest. Her heart aches a bit watching Glenn and Maggie embrace, Maggie’s smile over Glenn’s shoulder only making her hurt that much more. She offers her a half-hearted one in return before turning away, finding herself face to face with Rick.

She’s a bit nervous, opening her mouth only to shut it once more, giving Rick time to talk instead. “You didn’t want to be there, that’s why I tried to talk to you.”

She nods just a bit, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. “Glenn told me you saved his life.”

She tries to quell her smile, tilting her head along with her shrugging shoulders. “He saved mine,” she half chuckles, cracking a slight smile.

Rick smiles back, snorting softly as he nods. “That’s how it works with us, right?”

“Right,” Tara breathes out, shifting her gun more toward her side. “Hey,” she says softly, holding her fist out to him, a slight smirk on her face.

He looks between her and her fist, chuckles softly before he’s bumping their knuckles together gently. “Go get something to eat. We’ll start back at sunup,” he smiles, popping a nut into his mouth as he walks away.

Tara feels how she imagines a shelter dog does after it’s been adopted. A little nervous, a little wary, but mostly just happy to have a family.

  
She pulls her gun over her shoulder, grabs some food and settles down with her back to a tree, smiling to herself. This was the first time since the prison that she had felt something more than guilt or loss or pain. This time, she felt genuinely good to be alive, to be fighting here with these people she had once thought were her enemy. But mostly, she was just grateful that she could still glance up from her small meal and watch Rosita from across the way and find comfort in knowing her soulmate was safe and alive and _real_.


End file.
